Pour in Mount Kisco (and the Value of Being a Pest)

Here’s how Anthony Colasacco assembled Westchester’s largest cohort of rare American whiskeys, which you’ll find stationed behind his candlelit wine bar, Pour: “Oh, I just bitch and moan” to the distributors, says Colasacco. “They hate me. I never leave them alone.“ He’s a scourge, and his reach knows no bounds. As I write, Colasacco is haunting Julian Van Winkle, III, the scion of the hallowed Pappy Van Winkle dynasty, pestering him for just one more scarce bottle of Pappy.

Pour’s list contains the fabled 16-year-old A.H. Hirsh pot-distilled sour-mash bourbon, which Colasacco offers at $70 per glass, though he’s seen the same whiskey offered at TriBeCa’s Brandy Library for $100. He’s got 34 other American whiskeys—and that’s not counting his Scottish and Irish list—including both Hirsch’s 25-year-old ($35-per-glass) and 28-year-old ($65-per-glass) bourbons. Plus, at Pour, you’ll see Black Maple Hill’s 95-proof small-batch bourbon (for $15 per glass), plus the same distillery’s 16-year bourbon at $35 per glass. And then there is Colasacco’s All-Star team of Pappies.

Among chefs and bourbon hounds, no name inspires awe like Pappy Van Winkle. The boutique Kentucky distillery competes with larger companies like Maker’s Mark by deliberately limiting its releases. Effectively, these cultish whiskeys are simply unavailable to the average buyer. Sure, you mind find a Pappy bottle on eBay at a stunning price, but on average, it is unlikely that you’ll find Pappy Van Winkle sitting on a store shelf. And yet, via a heartless campaign of making himself deeply annoying, Anthony Colasacco has assembled a trio of stunning Pappies: the 15-year “Family Reserve” Bourbon (107 proof at $22 per glass), the 20-year “Family Reserve” (90 proof at $32), and the 23-year “Family Reserve” (96 proof at $60 per glass).
To sample, visit cozy Pour (241 E Main St, Mount Kisco 914-864-0606; pourmtkisco.com) or wait for upcoming bourbon tastings that offer most of these delicate spirits liquids in small, very precious tastes.